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For the sixth straight year, the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID), which includes segments of Dupont Circle, downtown, and Foggy Bottom, has installed dozens of haiku signs in tree boxes on sidewalks within the designated BID area to ring in the spring.
The BID includes 43 blocks and recently held its annual haiku contest. After receiving about 2,000 submissions from 50 countries, 41 states, and D.C., the group announced the winners (selected by a panel) this week. The first place submission, by Paul Chambers, follows below:
Poetry is in bloom in the Golden Triangle BID today as our #GoldenHaiku winners and favorites are installed throughout the neighborhood. Find the winners online now! https://t.co/xUHQJ7cO2e pic.twitter.com/e0ua8Vqi0A
— Golden Triangle BID (@GoldenTriDC) March 11, 2019
Our wonderful Ambassadors are helping us install 100s of #GoldenHaiku signs throughout the neighborhood. Have you seen any yet? pic.twitter.com/qp05zIZNZ6
— Golden Triangle BID (@GoldenTriDC) March 11, 2019
“For the contest’s purposes, the Golden Triangle [BID] uses the Haiku Society of America’s guidelines for contemporary haiku,” the BID notes in a release. “This means that although participants can adhere to the familiar 5-7-5 syllable rule, it is not required. Haiku are meant to be short, breezy poems that evoke an image in the reader’s mind.” The signs will remain up through April and number more than 300. Chime in with your favorites in the comments.